Comments on: Andrew Wyeth, 1917 – 2009

By: christine mercer-vernon

christine mercer-vernon — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:40:07 +0000

very nice tribute charley. i always enjoy reading your posts, but this one was especially nice.

By: suman gupta

suman gupta — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:07:50 +0000

one of the greatest Andrew wyeth commitment and sincerity towrds his art has been a source of inspiration for many of us .

By: Casey Klahn

Casey Klahn — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:59:47 +0000

AW was a great pillar in American art, and it is a shame how the critics felt they needed to arbitrate my relationship to his art. I love his work, period.

Thanks for a positive obit., Charley.

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:59:37 +0000

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and additions. James Gurney posted an interesting article about "Absence and Presence", in which he discusses what artists choose to leave out of an image, using Wyeth's Groundhog Day as an example, and commenting on Wyeth's own absence in the process.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:06:39 +0000

i heart andrew wyeth

By: Lane Meyers

Lane Meyers — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:26:44 +0000

“In October 1945 his father and his three-year-old nephew, Newell Convers Wyeth II (b. 1941), were killed when their car stalled on railroad tracks near their home, and was struck by a train. Wyeth referred to his father’s death as a formative emotional event in his artistic career, in addition to being a personal tragedy. [4] Shortly afterwards, Wyeth’s art consolidated into his mature and enduring style; characterized by a subdued color palette, realistic renderings, and the depiction of emotionally charged, symbolic objects and/or people.” –Wiki

I have always found this transformation to be very interesting. Gives a whole new meaning to “death benefits”.

By: Don O'Shea

Don O'Shea — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 18:10:53 +0000

Many years ago, when I was doing my graduate work at Hopkins, the Baltimore Museum of Art, a stone’s throw from the Homewood campus, there was a major Wyeth exhibition. I went with anticipation, but left in consternation. It was the only time I have ever gone to an exhibit and been unimpressed by the technique. It’s not something I think about or pay much attention to. Somehow the examination of those acres of Andrew Wyeth works up close was truly offputting. Maybe it was too much of good thingâ€”but I think not. Despite Wyeth’s statements about his painting, I felt there was less to his work than meets the eye. But I like his father’s illustrations!

By: Troy Oxford

Troy Oxford — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:47:42 +0000

I highly recommend the Brandywine Museum in Chadds Ford, PA to see a great collection of Wyeth family art. The wife and I went a few years ago and loved it.